Linux for mobile devices, sometimes referred to as mobile Linux, is the usage of Linux-based operating systems on portable devices, whose primary or only Human interface device (HID) is a touchscreen. It mainly comprises smartphones and tablet computers, but also some mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) portable media players that come with a touchscreen separately.

Mobile Linux is a relatively recent addition to the Linux range of use, with Google's Android operating system pioneering the concept. While UBPorts tried to follow suit with Ubuntu Touch, a wider development of free Linux operating systems specifically for mobile devices was only really spurred in the latter 2010s, when various smaller companies started projects to develop open source phones.

Lists

edit

Operating systems

edit

This is a list of Linux distros directly targeted towards use with mobile phones, being offered preconfigured with the mobile-oriented software listed below. There are both phone producers who develop their own operating systems and independent developments by community projects. Outside of these, several traditional distros have versions compiled for ARM architecture, which could be configured to use these components. This is done, for example, with Manjaro by the PinePhone.

Active

edit
 
Maemo Timeline
 
Relationships between mer and Tizen

Discontinued

edit

Smartphones

edit
 
Cell phone convergence with the Librem 5

Phones with Linux preinstalled:

Middlewares

edit

See also

edit
  • Anbox – allows Android apps to run on Linux distributions

References

edit
  1. ^ "Running Linux on your smartphone: everything you need to know in 2019". TuxPhones – Linux on smartphones. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  2. ^ "NixOS on my phone?". Mobile NixOS. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  3. ^ "Phosh". developer.puri.sm. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  4. ^ "Plasma Mobile". www.plasma-mobile.org. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
  5. ^ Crume, Jacob (December 30, 2021). "Maui Shell is Here, Ushering in a New Era of Desktop Linux". It's FOSS – News. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  6. ^ "Maui Shell is a Beautiful Vision for the Future of Linux". OMG! Ubuntu!. December 27, 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  7. ^ Higuita, Camilo (December 26, 2021). "Introducing Maui Shell". Nitrux. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  8. ^ "SXMO". sxmo.org. Retrieved July 16, 2024.